Ammunition-hoist for ordnance.



No. 736,075. PATBNTDAUG. ll

A. T.. DAWSE J'. HRE.

ON HGIST PQR OBEN ANGEL APPLIUATIOH FILLED me. 19, 1901.

AMMUNIT E0 MODEL.

UNTTnn STATES aTnNT 'Trina ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, OF LONDON, AND JAMES HORNE, OF BARROW- lN-EURNESS, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO' VICKERS SONS MAXIM, LlM- ITED, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

MMUNlTlON-HOtST F0532 OHDNNCE.

Y SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,( )?5, dated August 11, 1903.

Application iiled August 19, 1901. Serial Nn. 72,629. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, ARTHUR Tnuvon DawsON, late lieutenant of Royal Navy, residing at 32 Victoria street, Vestminster, London,

and JAMES HORNE, engineer,.of Vickers Sons dtMaxim,Limited,NavalConstructionVoi-ks',

Bar1ow-in-Furness, in the county of Lancas* ter, England, subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useio ful Improvements in Ammunition-Hoists for Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to hoistingapparatus for supplying powder charges and projectiles l 5 to the platforms or turn-tables of turret or similar gun mount-ings and is designed to afford means for raising such charges and projectiles safely and rapidly to the platform,

and is particularly advantageous for mainzo taining acontinuous supply to a pair of guns in a turret or barbette mounting. VW'e use chains provided with suitable receptacles for taking up powder charges or projectiles in a horizontal position from a shi ps hold or other z5 magazine to the platform. The chains are arranged to pass over sprocket-wheels at the top and bottom of a trunk or frame attached to the turn-table or platform, and there are inclined trays at the bottom of the hoist, suit- ;o ably formed'to receive the charges or proj ectiles and transfer them to the receptacles on the chains as they move upward. The said receptacles travel around these sprocketwheels, and in rising with a Vcharge or load 5 5 each receptacle delivers its charge to an inclined tray at the side of the mounting just below the gun-platform. By arranging this apparatus in duplicate a continuous supply of powder charges or projectiles can be main- 4o tained on both sides of the mounting, the

charges being delivered in a convenient position for transferring them by hand from the inclined trays to the breach of the gun. The apparatus can be arranged to carry up and deliver the projectiles on'one side and the powder charges on the other side of the mounting. In' the apparatus above described we' arrange the chains to travel upward on the outer side or sides of the sprocket-wheels.

5o According to our invention we hinge the receptacles or buckets to the chains, so that in passing the upper inclined tray they will engage with the edge of the same and Will be thereby so tilted as to allow the charge or projectile to roll from the buckets into the said tray. A suitable device, such as a spring on the hinge, restores the bucket to its original position after it has passed the tray.

In some cases we employ a single chain and hinge every alternate receptacle or bucket 6o thereto, so that the load carried by the hinged buckets will be delivered on one side of the chain near the top of the hoist and the load carried by the fixed buckets will be delivered on the opposite side.

In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into practice, we will proceed to describe thesame more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical lsection of the upper end of the hoist, showing a single chain provided with alternately hinged and iixed ammunition-receptacles. Fig. 2 is a transverse section, on a larger scale, of one of the hinged receptacles with which the aforesaid chains are provided.

Bis the rotary platform or turn-table, upon which the guns are mounted. C is the'vertical trunk or frame attached to the said platform or turn-table so as to revolve therewith, and D is the chain hoist by means of which the powder charges and projectiles are conveyed from the bottom of the said trunk or frame to the gun-platform. The said chains D are arranged within the trunk C and at their opposite ends pass around sprocketwheels d d.

df d are thehinged receptacles, and d'xare the iixed receptacles on the aforesaid chains for receiving the powder charges or projectiles from trays located near the bottom of the ing the upper tray d4 engage with the edge of the latter. The hinged receptacle will thus be tilted to an' extent sufficient to expel the charge or projectile it contains into the said tray d4, the said hinged receptacle regaining aforesaid hinged receptacles to be tilted, as 'any suitable means may be employed for this purpose.'L

` vv.The receptacle-s dx are adapted to pass the tray d4 unchecked and to deliver their `contents intothe `tray d as they pass over the .upper sprocket-Wheels and'become inverted.

"A In order to prevent thecharges or projectiles transferred from the chains'D to the trays d4 d4X from rolling' back toward the open end of the said traysylwe provide springflaps d5, j so arranged that they will give way' to perm ity the charge or projectile to enter the said tray, but will operate.v as stops to prevent the said charge or projectile from returning. 'The charges or projectiles having been delivered tothe aforesaid trays can be transferred therefrom by hand and conveyed'to the breeches,

of the gunslin any suitable-mann er.

What We desire to claim and secure by Let- I ters Patent of the United `States is- `1'.y In aimnunition-hoists for ordnance, the combinationwith the hoisting-chain, of ammunition-reeeptacles alternately hinged and fixed thereto, and a plurality of trays near the top of the` hoist, one of said trays being located withilthe path of movement of, and adapted to be engaged by, the hinged recep-y tacles, but incapable of being engaged by the fixed receptacles, whereby the load lcarried by said hinged receptacles will be delivered into one tray, and the load carried by the fixed receptacles will be delivered into the other tray.

2. In ammunition-hoists for ordnance the combination With the hoisting-chains vand the trays near the top of the trunk for receiving the ammunition,of outwardly-opening springflaps pivoted at their upper ends, and having their lowerends projecting down into said trays for preventing the ammunition fromfreturning fromsaid -trays after being supplied thereto, substantially as described.

our hands, in presence of two ,subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of August, 1901.

' ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON.

JAMES IIORNE.

, Witnesses to the signatiirc'of Arthur Trevor Dawson G. Dow, l

B. ZAHANY.

Witnesses to the signature of James Horne:

R. B. D. BRADSHAW, W. H. ATKINSON.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set 

